Music, Literature, Film... K-Culture Heats Up Spain

The representative port city of southeastern Spain, Cartagena, has been heated up by Hallyu.

According to the Korean Cultural Center in Spain on the 4th, the guest country event of the 'La Mar de Musicas' (Sea of Music), a representative comprehensive cultural festival in Spain, was successfully completed as part of the '2025 Korea Season Spain' program.

The 'La Mar de Musicas' festival, which attracts 40,000 visitors annually, invited Korea as the guest country for the first time among East Asian countries to celebrate its 30th anniversary. The festival, held from July 18 to 26, became an opportunity to reaffirm the cultural power of K-Culture as it showcased various cultural arts such as music, literature, film, and visual arts of the guest country each year. Shin Jae-gwang, director of the Korean Cultural Center in Spain, stated, "This guest country invitation is a symbolic case showing the status of Korean culture locally," adding, "It is especially meaningful as it achieved substantial cultural exchange with local audiences by introducing Korean culture in multiple layers, including music, literature, exhibitions, films, as well as food, calligraphy, and tea ceremonies."

'La Mar de Musicas' started with the opening performance of Lee Nalchi on July 18, featuring a variety of artists from fusion Korean traditional music (Jambinai, Dal:um, Chudahye Chagis), indie (Sunwoo Jung-a, W24), jazz (Nah Yoon-sun), electronic (Fat Hamster & Kang New), hip-hop (Hypnosis Therapy), to K-pop (B-Wave).

Music critic Miguel Tebar, who attended the festival, said, "I felt a thrill seeing everyone become one under the traditional Korean melody."

Previously, the 'La Mar de Letras' literary festival, held for a week from July 14, was a success with the participation of four representative Korean writers. It opened with a conversation between Kim Ho-yeon, a leading figure in healing novels, and Bae Su-ah, known for her experimental writing style, followed by appearances from Jeong Bora, a finalist for the Philip K. Dick Award, and Cheon Myeong-kwan, a Booker Prize finalist. All programs were sold out in advance, and the enthusiastic atmosphere was marked by continuous audience questions.

Korean contemporary art was also in the spotlight. Photographer Koo Bohn-chang and others engaged with the audience through works that captured the tranquility and depth of Korean aesthetics. In the film section, eight films were screened, starting with Bong Joon-ho's 'Parasite', including Park Chan-wook's 'Decision to Leave', Hong Sang-soo's 'The Novelist's Film', and Jung Joo-ri's 'Next Sohee'. The open format of outdoor screenings allowed Spanish audiences of various generations to naturally approach Korean films. Cultural experience programs also received great responses from local audiences. Classes on Korean cuisine such as kimchi and bulgogi, Hangul calligraphy and lettering, K-pop dance lessons, tea ceremonies, and etiquette experiences were held daily.

Director Shin added, "Since Cartagena is physically distant from the capital, we also prepared a Madrid performance under the name 'K-Live' to allow more people to experience Korean culture," adding, "We planned tailored programs by analyzing local demand by age group and will expand into various areas to sustain Hallyu."

Reporter Shin Jin-a